The excuses are tiring, but they’ve become standard operating procedure at Michigan. Brady Hoke is starting his fourth year, yet he’s still complaining that too many of his players require training wheels.

Every other word out of Hoke’s mouth is “young.” Without the slightest prompting, he points out that there are only 12 seniors and 20 juniors on the 2014 edition of the Wolverines. If you believe Hoke, they’re serving Pablum with pacifiers at the team training table.

But weren’t the last two Heisman Trophy winners redshirt freshmen quarterbacks?

Youth no longer offers full absolution for repeated lapses in execution. These first- and second-year players were part of those highly ranked recruiting classes that put the wind at Hoke’s back the last two years despite poor on-field performance.

After a season-win total that has gradually shrunk from 11 in year one to seven last season, Hoke seems to be hoping for another free pass from criticism. But there’s only so much validity left in playing the youth card.

“It’s true that the game’s changing in that you’re seeing more first- and second-year players step up when given the chance,” Michigan junior safety Jarrod Wilson said Saturday following the Wolverines’ spring game. “I guess it all depends on the particular situation. But, yeah, it’s probably not the excuse it once was.”

As Michigan brought down the curtain on its spring practice season, Hoke further tempered expectations, reiterating that the Wolverines “have a long way to go before they become the team we want them to be.”

He feels the pressure. He’s preaching more time and patience, but both are running short.

Hoke said a year ago that anything less than a Big Ten championship was a failed season. That’s the expectation. But now the Wolverines are approaching the 10-year anniversary of their last conference title.

And if Hoke’s cautious tone is any indication, the only way the Wolverines can end that drought this fall would be if some fiscally flush alumni endowed them a Big Ten championship.

“We know that it’s time for that to change,” said senior linebacker Brennen Beyer. “We don’t have lower expectations here. We don’t have excuses, either, for why we shouldn’t achieve our goals. We’ve put last year behind us, and we’re looking forward.”

The spring game is supposed to be a celebration — like baseball’s Opening Day — marking the end of a long, cold winter and restoring optimism.

It was also an opportunity for Michigan to put an embarrassing second half of the 2013 season further in the rear-view mirror. The Wolverines won only one of their last six games — and that required a scrambling field goal at Northwestern before time expired.

But there wasn’t much excitement running through the Big House Saturday. Quarterback Devin Gardner couldn’t find his accuracy. He even threw an interception on the scrimmage’s first passing play, deep in his own territory. The Wolverines’ defensive line displayed some ferocity, but that was as much the result of looking better against a refurbished offensive line that Hoke called “inconsistent” afterward.

It’s only April. But the Wolverines are probably the fourth-best team in the newly expanded Big Ten behind any combination of Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan State. That isn’t enough to reassure those doubting Hoke.

The only way to restore confidence in the direction of this program is for those young five-stars we keep hearing about living up to that hype.

Drew Sharp is a sports columnist at the Detroit Free-Press. He can be reached at 313-223-4055 or dsharp@freepress.com.